The Scientist
by Transformersfan123
Summary: Alive. I'm alive. It shouldn't have been possible. Nobody had ever survived passed nine. Some hadn't even made it to that all encompassing number. He coughed. Dust was everywhere, thick cloying dust. When he moved to sit up, it poured off of him. He finally got into an upright position, which sent him into a heavy coughing fit. How was he alive?
1. Chapter 1

_Alive. I'm alive._

It shouldn't have been possible. Nobody had ever survived passed nine. Some hadn't even made it to that all encompassing number. He coughed. Dust was everywhere, thick cloying dust. When he moved to sit up, it poured off of him. He finally got into an upright position, which sent him into a heavy coughing fit. How was he alive?

Hunger exploded within him. It was so acute that it was more like starvation. He moaned and crawled his way to the kitchen. He managed to open a can of soup and slowly drank it out of the can, trying to sate the burning hunger in him. Several cans of food later, he forced himself to stand. He was shaky, but he was standing.

He slowly made his way back to his workroom. His mind was fuzzy. What had happened? He paused in the doorway and looked around blearily. There, in the Transfer Device, was a small figure hanging by one arm.

"Nine!" he rasped, staggering awkwardly over to his creation.

He freed the Stitchpunk's arm, cradling him close. He jolted the poor thing lightly and optics flashed open. Nine stood immediately, looking around. He ended by looking up at his maker. He smiled.

"Hello Nine," the Scientist said, his voice still scratchy.

Nine responded in kind, only there was no sound. He tried again, but still there was nothing but silence. He touched his throat and looked up at the Scientist, looking a little upset.

"Oh, I forgot to put your voice in. Here," he said, placing the small creature down on his worktable. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Nine watched with great concern as his maker stumbled away. Was he hurt? He needed a voice so he could ask. He looked around at some papers on the table until the Scientist returned.

"Lie back and hold still, little one."

Nine settled right in front of the Scientist, then tried really hard not to move as he was gently handled. It tickled a little bit sometimes, but other times there was enough pressure to make him wriggle uncomfortably. When the Scientist was done, he carefully zipped Nine up.

"There. Better?"

Nine looked up and hummed lightly. He had a voice!

"Hello. Are you in pain?"

"What?" The Scientist was surprised; all of his other creations, save Two and Five, hadn't really cared much for his wellbeing, too wrapped up in exploring their surroundings.

"Are you in pain? You were walking strange."

"Well," the human said slowly, testing his limbs. "I'm rather sore. I collapsed after giving you what I assumed was the final piece of my soul. I expected to die, honestly. The soreness is wearing off, however."

"Die? You would die for me?"

"Yes."

Nine smiled. "You said you gave me your soul. How did you do that?"

"I built you and used the Talisman to give you it."

"Does that make you my maker?"

"Yes."

"Am I to call you Maker?"

The Scientist thought about that for a minute. It sounded too impersonal. "You may call me Father."

"Father?" Nine asked, testing the word on his lips. "Yes, that sounds good. Father. I like it." He paused. "Father, what is that?"

The Scientist looked at the picture his little creation was pointing at.

"That, my little one, is the BRAIN."

"What is it?"

"A failed creation of mine," the Scientist sighed, falling into a chair and rubbing his temples.

"Failed how?"

Nine sat and listened as his father explained how his machine had been corrupted. The Stitchpunk was thinking hard when he finished.

"But Father, couldn't you fix him like you fixed me?"

"I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Can you make him new?"

"No, I—" The Scientist stopped mid-sentence. "That…might be possible with the Talisman."

"You sound hesitant."

"I have not been with my creation since the Chancellor took him from me. I was forbidden. If I could get close to him with the Talisman and let him into my mind again, I could probably purge most of the destructive programming. If he could only recognize me, it would be simple, but I fear what the Chancellor did to him made him forget me."

"Can we take that chance?"

The Scientist frowned. "Maybe. I feel too weak to do much of anything right now. Let me rest for a few days. Then…we'll see."

"Father?"

"Yes, Nine?"

"Thank you for making me."

"You're quite welcome. Now, bed."

"Can I come with you?"

"I don't see why not."

Nine stood in the outstretched hands, wobbling slightly as his father began to walk. He was taken to a bed where the Scientist lay down and quickly fell asleep. Nine snuggled close, breathing in the lovely scent that came from his father. It promised safety. He slept for a while, but soon woke and decided to explore.

The Scientist woke to find himself alone in the bed. He felt much better now that he'd gotten a nice long rest in. He hadn't had that since before he created One. He stretched, delighting in the pops he got from the action. That felt good! He stood and walked through the rooms, looking for Nine. He found the little creature on the windowsill.

"Good morning, Nine," he said, having absolutely no idea what time it was.

"Good morning, Father. Feeling well?"

"I feel much better, thank you."

"Father, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"You mentioned something called a Tali…something."

"Talisman."

"Yes! That's it. What is it?"

"A very special object that I used to bring BRAIN and you and the other Stitchpunks to life." He paused and retrieved the device from the Transfer Device. "This is it, here. You put it inside you for safe keeping."

Nine unzipped himself and stored the Talisman safely inside. Zipping himself back up, Nine smiled at the Scientist.

"So will we try to recreate BRAIN today?"

"Not yet. Give me a few days."

Nine obliged, but every day he would ask the same question. Each day the Scientist would simply shake his head and say the same thing. But Nine was more persistent.

"So Father, shall we try to recreate the BRAIN today?" Nine asked a week later.

"I…I suppose we can try Nine," the Scientist said with a sigh. "But it might kill us both."

"Can we take that chance?"

"Well, he is _my_ creation…I suppose we must. If we are doomed to die, then nothing shall change that."

After the Scientist ate, he set Nine on his shoulder and began to walk through the rubble to the factory. Nine had the Talisman out and was studying it. His father had taught him how to use it already. There was a growling noise and the Scientist paused. Suddenly he was hit hard and went sprawling. He grabbed his glasses from the ground and slipped them on in time to see Nine picked up by a cat-like machine. The Talisman was hooked onto a collar like form on the creature's neck.

The Cat Beast snarled at the Scientist and took off. The man yelled and raced after it, running full speed into the dark tunnel that the beast had gone into. He ran blindly, tripping and stumbling along the way, but came out into blessed light after only a short while. He saw the cat creature run into the factory. His chest was heaving as he tried to breathe, but he had no time to rest. He found a way in and got there just in time to see the Talisman fly open as the Cat Beast held Nine in front of it.

"No!"

The Scientist leaped in front of the two small creatures just as three beams of electric looking light came out. He was hit, glasses flying off in the fray. He gasped and then…nothing.

He awoke to metal arms grabbing him. He felt absolutely horrible. Everything ached and he just wanted to lay there and fall into a deep sleep, never to wake again. There was a soft static noise that almost sounded questioning. He forced his eyes open to see his first mechanical creation staring at him. BRAIN pushed his creator to sit up, but when he removed his hands, the Scientist almost fell back again. He was caught by his creation again and gently lowered to the ground. Small hands touched his cheek.

"Father? Are you alright?" Nine asked softly.

"What happened?" he asked blearily.

"I don't know. That green light hit you and you collapsed. Then the big machine came on. He looked around and turned the Cat Beast off."

BRAIN made a static noise again, prodding the Scientist lightly.

"BRAIN?" the Scientist asked. "You aren't trying to kill me."

The machine shook himself side to side. Then he made another noise.

"He's thinking," Nine said, turning to look at his maker.

The big machine took one hand and wrote in the dirt. The Scientist searched for his glasses, and BRAIN handed them to him. "I do not wish to kill you, Creator." When that had been read, he swept it away. "I feel clean. I don't want to kill anymore."

"Well BRAIN, you won't ever have to again. I won't make you, like the Chancellor did," the Scientist said firmly. "You're free to be at peace with everything, and you could even help rebuild."

"I would like that," BRAIN wrote.

"Good."

"Is that little creature yours?"

"Who? Nine?" the Scientist forced himself to sit up, groaning deeply at the pain it caused. He gingerly picked up Nine. "He is very special to me. He and the rest of the Stitchpunks."

"May I see him for a moment?"

"Do you mind, Nine?"

"Not at all," the small creature said, reaching his arms up to the machine.

He was picked up gently and held in front of the great optic. Suddenly he lit up green and a tickling, buzzing sensation filled him. He laughed, wriggling. The sensation stopped and Nine found himself lightly panting from the unexpected pleasure of laughter. He beamed.

"What was that for?" he asked curiously.

The machine wrote in the dirt again. "Now you are going to be recognized by the machines I reprogram as being one to listen to." He swiped it clean. "Your turn, maker?"

"If you think it is good for me to."

BRAIN nodded then placed four hands on his maker's arms. The Scientist turned green and laughed just as Nine had at the sensation. When that was done, the machine turned and picked up the Cat Beast. He hooked up several wires to him then the creature's eyes, which were dull, flashed several times. Then they powered up completely. He was set down after the wires were removed. He shook hard then walked over to the Scientist. When the human picked him up and set him in his lap, the cat purred and nuzzled him.

"Kitty! Can we keep him, Father?" Nine asked, still in BRAN's hand.

"I suppose. If he doesn't mind of course." The Cat Beast purred again, nuzzling the Scientist. "What will you name him?"

Nine studied the creature, humming to himself. "How about Skull? You like that?" The cat nodded. "Skull it is then."

The Scientist smiled, amused at how fast Nine was making friends with the machines. Then again, he hadn't been around when they were destroying everything that lived. The human and Stitchpunk stayed with BRAIN for hours, but headed home before dark. BRAIN seemed sad that they left. So, after a week of coming and going, the creator and creation began moving things into a small room off to the side. There was a bathroom attached, and BRAIN created some small robots to get it working again.

The Scientist was grateful for a long, hot shower. Nine played in the water, having never seen so much of the substance, especially clear and clean. He also studied his maker. Humans looked strange without clothing, he concluded. The Scientist caught him staring and smiled gently when the Stitchpunk shared his thoughts.

"You look quite different without your burlap," he said with a nod. "You'd probably think the same thing about yourself."

Nine nodded. "That's definitely possible."

When they were done in the shower, the Scientist dried himself off and dressed, sighing.

"That was much needed," he said.

"It was very wet," Nine said, still wringing water out of his burlap.

"I'm afraid you don't have human skin. You'll be wet for a couple hours."

"I don't mind. I feel clean. It's nice."

Skull came bounding over, nuzzling Nine. The cat had taken quite the liking to the Stitchpunk. Nine smiled, petting the cat.

"Father?" Nine asked softly.

"Yes Nine?"

"Am I the only one left?"

The Scientist looked sad. "I don't know. I hope not. All of you are so unique, so wonderful, that I couldn't bear to lose any of you. I wish I knew if they were still alive."


	2. Chapter 2

The Cat Beast snarled viciously as he cornered One. The others had scattered, running away to hide, but this one was slowest. The Cat Beast sniffed him. This one was not Nine. He didn't smell right, and was the wrong color and shape. Master would be pleased to know about this one. Snatching One up into his mouth, the great beast sprinted for the factory.

None of the other Stitchpunks had seen where he went and came out of hiding, calling for One. When One didn't answer, they grew frightened. What would they do without their leader?

As the Cat Beast ran, One was paralyzed with fear and pain. The machine had definitely knocked something loose inside of him, and the jolts from the creature's leaps and bounds did nothing to help. One particularly hard jolt sent him spiraling into unconsciousness.

Nine looked up as his pet came rushing in to drop something on the ground in front of BRAIN. He tapped lightly on the top of BRAIN with his foot and the machine picked him up and the object up at the same time and brought them to the same level. Nine gasped in surprise. It was another Stitchpunk! As he stared, he noticed that the poor thing seemed a little misshapen around the middle, a section bulging out. He reached for him and BRAIN moved him closer.

"Hold him firmly, but not too tightly," Nine instructed.

The young Stitchpunk carefully undid the buckles and parted the fabric. Two of his gears were out of place. BRAIN made a soft, inquiring static noise. Nine frowned.

"Father isn't here to fix this. You've seen the schematics for this one, haven't you?"

BRAIN nodded and purred.

"Think you can fix him?"

Another nod.

"Good. Now be careful with him."

Nine was held off to one side as BRAIN carefully stripped the Stitchpunk down to his framework and mechanisms. The fabric didn't rip, so that was good. Within five minutes, the gears were back in place and working like clockwork. Of course, that was the moment that the Stitchpunk decided to wake up. He screamed, jolting around viciously as he tried to get free of the machine's hands.

"Calm down, friend!" Nine called and BRAIN lowered him down to the panicking creature's level. "BRAIN won't hurt you!"

The Stitchpunk froze, looking him over. "I want down."

"Let him put your burlap back on."

"Burlap?" He looked down at himself and yowled when he saw he was 'naked.' "Why did it take it off in the first place?"

" _He_ took it off to repair you. Skull hurt you on accident."

"S-Skull?"

"My cat."

"You mean the Cat Beast?"

"Um, sure. Now relax for a minute and you'll be back to normal in no time."

But the Stitchpunk didn't relax. Not until he realized that his fabric wouldn't go on if he was stiff as a board. He forced himself to relax as he was 'clothed' and buckled up again. Then he started wriggling again. But Nine wouldn't let him get down yet.

"Hold still. BRAIN is going to scan you into his system. That way all the reprogrammed machines will recognize your voice and commands and won't drag you here every time they see you."

One was about to protest, but a buzzing, tickling sensation suddenly swamped him, and he let out a laugh. He clapped his hands over his mouth in embarrassment as the sensation went away. He glanced at Nine, and, had he been capable, he would have blushed. He hated his laugh. The Scientist had laughed at him about it.

"What's wrong?" Nine asked.

"Nothing," One said gruffly.

"No, something's definitely wrong. You look…mortified."

"I…I just don't laugh often."

"Why not? You have a nice laugh."

One snorted. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm Nine. And you?"

"One."

"Nice to meet you, One."

Nine paused, looking at the top of One's head. He reached over, One flinching back, and lightly ran his hand back and forth over the poof on top of the elder's head. One yelped and swatted him, looking embarrassed again.

"Oh, come on! It's cute!" Nine said, grinning.

"No, it isn't. Where's my hat?"

"Over there by that bone."

"And my cape?"

"Right below you on the ground."

"And my staff?"

"Staff? You didn't come in with a staff."

"Then I dropped it when that foul beast grabbed me." One suddenly noticed he was still hanging in midair inside BRAIN's hand. "Can I get down now?" he asked nervously.

Nine nodded and they were lowered to the ground. One scrambled away as soon as he was free, standing a short ways away. He looked distrustfully at BRAIN.

"He won't hurt you."

"Pardon me if I don't believe you," One snapped, snapping on his cape and placing his hat on his head. "We've been running from those blasted machines for a long time."

"Oh, speaking of the other machines, you might want to be careful. Not all of them have been reprogrammed yet. Some will still try to kill you. The reprogrammed ones should respond to your commands and leave you be, if you so wish it, but they'll still patrol the area."

"Fine. Now can I go home?"

"Sure. We can ride Skull."

The cat-like machine leaped over to Nine, allowing him to pet him lightly.

" _Ride_ that _thing_?!" One yelped.

"Yeah. He won't hurt you anymore than BRAIN will."

"I'd rather walk."

"Suit yourself. Come on, I'll take you."

They began to walk, One stubbornly silent as Nine chatted pleasantly. The younger Stitchpunk stopped talking and stared hard at One.

"Why do you wear those things?"

"What?" One asked, a little surprised. "What do you care?"

"I don't know, it's just…Humans wear clothes to hide their nakedness. Sometimes they wear some emotions to hide their real feelings and insecurities. You wear that hat to hide that tuft of fabric, and you were obviously embarrassed when I touched it. Once you got over being afraid, you began acting arrogant and mean. I rather liked you when you weren't that way. Why are you hiding so much of yourself?"

One stopped walking, staring at the other Stitchpunk. "I…Well…It's none of your business."

Nine tilted his head. "You don't have to tell me. You're insecure. You don't like yourself. You're afraid of how the others perceive you."

One felt extremely uncomfortable at how perceptive Nine was. He opened his mouth, floundering for something to say. He eventually just shut his mouth and stared at his feet.

"Don't feel bad. I just want you to know that if you ever come back to the Factory, you don't have to wear the adornments and the mask. You can be yourself."

"I…Fine, whatever," One snapped, turning on his heel and marching toward his home.

Nine hurried to catch up, and they walked through the tunnel and among the wreckage. When they got to the library, One turned around and stopped. Nine found himself staring at him.

"What? Are we there?"

"I…would rather you not see where we live. So part from me here and go back to the Factory."

Nine frowned. "Why?"

"You walk and talk with the machines. I don't trust you."

"Oh. I suppose that's a valid reason. Very well, goodbye One. You are welcome at the Factory anytime. I cannot promise that Father and I will be there, but BRAIN will be, and he's good company."

One nodded and watched as Nine walked away. He sighed when he was out of sight then hurried to the church. The bucket was down already, Eight waiting for him. That meant Five or Two had seen him coming through their telescope. One didn't speak on the ride up. He had noticed something. Nine hadn't just said that he might not be there, but that his father might be gone as well. Who was this father he spoke of? Another Stitchpunk?

"One!" Two exclaimed, hurrying up to him. "You're alright!"

"Of course I am," One said gruffly. "That beast couldn't catch me."

There was silence for a few seconds. "Why didn't you come when we called for you?"

"I didn't hear you."

"But—" Two looked immensely concerned.

"Drop it. I'm just fine."

"Here's your staff," Eight said, handing it to him.

"Thank you. Now, I'm rather tired. I'm turning in early."

One hurried to his room and closed the curtain before removing all of his adornments and standing in front of the piece of mirror he had. It was big enough to be full length for him. He reached up hesitantly and grabbed the poof, playing with it. It wasn't cute, One groused silently. He stared at it and shook his head, making it move.

"Okay, maybe it's a little cute. But _I'm_ most certainly _not_ ," One muttered.

There was a knock on the frame of the opening of his room. He quickly put his hat back on, but left the staff and cape on the ground. He sat down on the edge of his bed as Two walked in.

"One, are you really okay?"

"Of course I am."

"You really had us worried."

"Bah. Ridiculous. Now, leave. I'm tired." One knew that Two was lying. Why would anybody worry about him?

One settled into his bed as Two slowly left; the second born Stitchpunk looked back over his shoulder before the curtain slid closed. One took off the hat again, but didn't go back to the mirror. He stared at the ceiling, occasionally reaching up to touch the little poof. Nine's words hung in his head. He could be himself at the Factory. Nine wouldn't judge him. That would be nice. But…could he trust a Stitchpunk who walked with machines?


	3. Chapter 3

One hesitantly looked around. He didn't see Nine, and more importantly, that hulking machine called BRAIN didn't see him. He was hidden behind a piece of metal on the floor. There was a noise behind him and One turned around to see a giant winged creature. He yelled and ran out of hiding, trying to escape, only to be swept up by BRAIN. He screamed.

"Let me down!" he cried out, struggling in the metal hand-like appendage.

To his immense surprise, the machine did as he asked, setting him gently on the ground. One was too stunned to move for a minute, but when he realized that he was free, he skittered backwards. He stared at BRAIN, studying him.

"Where's Nine?"

The machine reached down and drew a picture of the Cat Beast then pointed out the window, indicating he was out. One frowned.

"When will he be back?"

This time it was a word drawn into the ground. "Anytime."

"Well…I guess I can wait for a little while."

"Would you like to play a game?"

"What kind of game?"

BRAIN moved to the back of the Factory and brought back a chess board with all the pieces. One shrugged and the machine set up the game. After they had both lost several pieces, a yowl sounded out and One dropped the piece he was moving. He spun around to see the Cat Beast bound in, Nine astride its back. Nine jumped down, looking pleasantly surprised.

"Hello One," he said happily. "Skull, go put that in Father's room."

It was then that One noticed that a large bag was attached to the Cat Beast. The creature snorted and dragged the bag to a dark room hidden off to one side of the Factory. The cat returned to Nine, nuzzling him. That winged creature, which had been perched on a pipe watching the chess game, flew over and crooned, nudging the younger Stitchpunk as well. One was astounded. The machines really seemed to like him.

"Knight to E-3," Nine said, looking over the board.

"What?"

"That should be what you move next. Put the bishop back."

"I...Very well."

When he did, Nine grinned. "Check."

BRAIN made a loud squeal, and One flinched, expecting to be crushed or vaporized or something, but the machine simultaneously moved his queen and wrote "checkmate" in the dirt.

"Man!" Nine exclaimed. "Sorry, One. I thought that was a good move. BRAIN's getting a lot better at this game. I am, too, but this must be an off day for me."

"Eh. No problem. We were just waiting for you."

"What brings you back to the Factory?"

"Oh…I just…Nothing."

"Come now One!" Nine exclaimed.

"Oh, I just wanted to come and see you."

"Any particular reason?"

One felt embarrassed. He had come to be himself, as Nine had promised he could be. Instead of saying this, One slowly removed his hat and cape. Nine immediately smiled.

"Well, that's nice. Now, what shall we do?"

"I don't know."

"Mind telling me about the other Stitchpunks?"

"Hm? Not at all. First there's Two…"

Nine paid close attention to every detail. When One was done, the light in the sky was starting to fade.

"I have to get back!" One exclaimed, putting his adornments back on and grabbing his staff.

"The only way you'll get back before dark is if we ride Skull or Talon."

"Who's Talon?"

Nine gestured at the bird-like machine. One shook his head immediately.

"As much as I hate saying this, let's ride Skull."

The Cat Beast knelt down and allowed Nine to get on him. The young Stitchpunk held out his hand and One swallowed hard before taking the hand. He found himself settled behind Nine, who glanced over his shoulder.

"The ride can get a little rough sometimes. You might want to hold your hat."

One placed the hat between his legs, trapped firmly by their bodies. Nine made a clicking noise and the beast rose up then, with no more warning, took off at a sprint. One gasped, clutching Nine tightly as his innards experienced some sort of swooping sensation as the cat creature ran. They were soon to the place where One wanted to be dropped off. The oldest Stitchpunk bid him goodnight, hurried inside, and, once he got up to their sanctuary, fended off questions about where he'd been. He quickly fell asleep, dreaming of machines. And strangely enough, they weren't all nightmares.

Nine, meanwhile, made it back to the Factory to see that his father was up.

"Good evening, Father," Nine sad jovially, dismounting easily. "Did you see the food we collected?"

"Yes. It is much appreciated, Nine. Thank you. Where were you? It's so late. You know I don't like you being outside after dark."

"I was taking One home. And Skull was with me the entire time."

"One? He came back?"

"Yeah. He wanted to see me. Isn't that neat?"

"It's certainly interesting. What did you do?"

"He told me about the others. They're all alive. He knows a lot about all of them, but he seemed hesitant when talking about Six."

"From what I recall, Six is different than the rest of you. He's a little, well, odd."

"I like the sound of him," Nine said, walking over to the Scientist and holding his arms up.

The human picked Nine up and set him on his shoulder. Nine looked around happily, enjoying the high vantage point. He could get much higher. BRAIN could lift him all the way up to the ceiling, and Talon could take him high above the Factory. Still, neither compared to being perched on his father's shoulder.

"I'm glad they're all alive," the Scientist sighed.

"I'd like to meet them."

"Why didn't you?"

"One doesn't want me to see where they live."

"Why not?"

Nine smiled sadly, placing a hand on his father's head. "He doesn't trust me."

"Not surprising, considering who it is. Is there a reason?"

"He says it's because I walk and talk with the machines. They've been running from them for a long time."

"Did he happen to say how long?"

"Nope."

"Oh well. Probably best if we not know."

"Yeah." Nine yawned. "Well, I'm tired."

"You and BRAIN rest. I have some repairs to do on a part of him."

Nine reached up again, this time to BRAIN. The machine picked him up and set the Stitchpunk on top of his casing. Nine settled down, resting his head on his arms. BRAIN stroked him gently and Nine eased himself to sleep.

The Scientist stared at him for a few minutes. He had missed his other creation again. He wanted to see them, all of them. But One seemed determined to protect them from Nine, and through that, him. Oh well. At least they were safe.


	4. Chapter 4

One would visit Nine about once a week, and he always seemed to miss the Scientist. Nine really began to like One. He was a little rough around the edges, but overall rather nice. One was also really starting to like Nine. He was interesting and extremely brave. It was a nice change from the others. They were each interesting in their own way, but none of them were very brave. Especially not in their dealings with the machines.

One grew used to the machines, and they grew used to him. He soon ordered them about without a second thought. Sometimes they would object to the stupid orders, hissing or trilling their displeasure and skepticism. That would cause One to snicker and think it through.

And the laughter. One had never laughed so much, or so hard, in his life. Nine found the humor in everything, and loved to share that with his older companion. One was even starting to point out things that Nine had missed.

One was walking toward the factory when he heard a noise behind him. He spun, holding his staff protectively. There was a flash of movement behind a piece of rubble.

"Skull?" he asked, knowing it couldn't be the great beast; it was much too small. "Come out!"

There was a sigh and a small figure stepped out.

"Two?" One asked incredulously. "What are you doing?"

"We're worried about you, One," Two said softly, looking at the ground. "You've been sneaking out every week. You're breaking your own rules. What's going on?"

"I…I just fancy long walks alone."

"You're lying," Two said, suddenly sounding forceful. "Where have you been going?"

"You don't need to know!" One said; if Two knew, he would want to come, then One couldn't be himself anymore.

"One, I'm serious! We need to know that you're safe!"

There was a growl and they stiffened.

"I was until you started shouting!"

He expected to see Nine astride Skull coming to see what the ruckus was. What he saw was a wolf, thin and wiry, with glowing red eyes. He, like Talon, was of much better construction than Skull, hailing from the earlier days of BRAIN's building career. And he was walking right toward them. Two pulled one behind a tire and One began to shake. Was this one of the machines that hadn't been reprogrammed? There was only one way to find out. He swallowed hard and stepped out, Two grabbing him and viciously trying to tug him back.

"You, um , stop!" One stammered.

The wolf snarled and lunged. Two shoved him out of the way of the beast's jaws only to be caught himself. He was worried hard and One screamed, slamming his staff into the monster's eye. The wolf dropped Two and turned to One. There was a great screech and the monster's entire body jerked as Talon dropped from the sky and hit him. Nine jumped down and tossed One a cable, and while Skull was growling and wrestling with the wolf, they hog tied and muzzled him.

"Bad dog," Nine said, standing boldly in front of the wriggling beast. "BRAIN isn't going to be happy with you. You're getting a thorough cleansing and a nice reprogramming."

There was a moan and Nine turned to look at the small shape slumped on the ground. One sprinted for him and knelt down, touching the thing gingerly. Nine walked over slowly, aware that One might not want him to be so close. One looked up.

"He's hurt. Can BRAIN fix him?"

"He has all of the Stitchpunks' schematics. I'm sure he could easily put him back together."

"Thank the Maker."

"You take him back to BRAIN on Skull. Talon and I will fly ahead with Fang."

"You've already named it?" One asked, looking distastefully at the wolf.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like to name him?"

"No. I want him dead, to be honest. He hurt Two."

"Once BRAIN gets through with him, Fang'll be lovely and nice."

Nine hopped onto Talon. The bird-like machine was very well built, and made to lift extremely heavy loads. So lifting Fang was only a small struggle. One watched him go, then snapped his fingers.

"Skull, come here." The cat obeyed, standing patiently in front of him. "I want you to put Two in your mouth, very, very, _very_ gently, and let me get on your back so you can take us to the Factory. Understand?"

Skull nodded once and every so tenderly picked up the wounded Stitchpunk, then pressed close to the ground so One could get on him.

"Run as smoothly as possible, and don't clamp your jaw," One instructed. "Now let's go!"

Seven came sprinting out in time to see the Cat Beast turn toward the tunnel that led to the Factory. She saw Two hanging limply from its mouth, but was so busy staring at that, she didn't see One clinging to its back. She gasped then raced back to the others.

"That monster is taking Two to the Factory!"

"What about One?" Eight asked.

"There was another beast flying through the air. It probably took him, but the creature was too far away for me to see properly."

"What are we waiting for?" Eight demanded, pulling his knife.

"We have to be careful. One told us that the Maker told him that that place is where all the machines come from," Five said.

"Well, what can we do?"

"We'd have to sneak in. Quietly."

They all looked at each other and nodded. A short while later, they found themselves in the Factory. From their spot at the entrance they saw the Cat Beast and the Winged Beast lightly playing way over on the other side of the large room. The giant machine in the middle had two hands up, holding something lightly in front of the large red eye. They snuck closer and their mouths dropped open.

"It's dissecting him!" Five gasped, gagging.

In truth, BRAIN had stripped Two naked and was taking the gears out to bend them back into shape. A lot of them had teeth marks in them, and with strong but delicate movements, the great machine manipulated them back into their proper shapes.

"I'll distract it," Seven whispered. "You get Two back. Maybe Five can piece him back together."

"Um, Seven," Five said hollowly.

"What?"

Five pointed toward the machine. "Six."

Six had walked over and stood in plain sight right in front of the machine. The machine's eye suddenly focused on him, and it stopped what it was doing. It reached a free hand down toward Six.

"Don't you dare!" Seven shrieked and Five fired a crossbow bolt at the hand.

The bolt ricocheted off the metal and the eye shot over to them. A deafening shriek came from the machine and the Winged Beast and the Cat Beast suddenly shot toward them. Eight stood bravely in front of them, knife at the ready, when a commanding voice rang out.

"That's enough of that!"

"One!" Eight exclaimed, and every Stitchpunk looked around.

"Where are you?" Five asked.

"Up!" Six said, reaching his hands up.

Seven shook her head. "No Six. We're trying to find One."

"Up!"

"Six!" Five snapped. "No!"

"No, Five," Six said, sounding hurt. "One is up! Up there on top!"

"What?"

"Let me down, BRAIN," One said gruffly.

The machine pulled away from the others and reached a free hand up—he still held Two's fabric in one hand, Two in two hands, and gears in three hands—and grabbed One from the top of his casing. One lightly held on to one of the 'fingers' and stepped free from the hand easily. None of the other Stitchpunks dared to move though.

"Talon, Skull, go play. They don't mean any harm."

The bird gave a _skree_ and launched himself into the air. The cat yowled and tried to catch him. The Stitchpunks stared open mouthed at the creatures as they started to play. One harrumphed.

"They're harmless, really."

"B-but they were going to attack us!" Eight stammered.

"Because you attacked BRAIN. They will do anything to protect him."

"And I take it that that _thing_ is BRAIN?" Seven asked, pointing to the great machine.

"Yes."

"Why are you so friendly with the machines?"

"Blame Nine."

"Nine?" Five asked. "Who's Nine?"

"Nine, get down here!"

"Okay," Nine called and took a running leap off BRAIN.

One yelped in surprise. BRAIN's optic followed Nine's descent and easily caught his feet just before the Stitchpunk hit the ground. Nine hung there upside down, staring at his kin. They looked at him strangely. Except for Six.

"I want to try!"

"Sure, grab my hand and I'll have BRAIN—"

"No!" Five gasped, grabbing Six's shoulders and tugging him back.

"No?" Nine asked, swinging himself up to grab one of the fingers. BRAIN released his legs and Nine was about an inch off the ground, so he dropped and landed easily.

"No. Six doesn't need to be hurt by that hulking brute!"

"Brute? BRAIN's nice!" Nine laughed.

Eight suddenly was in his face. "I don't like him, One. He trusts the machines."

"So does One," Nine argued, frowning. "Right, One?"

One didn't reply, staring fixedly at the ground.

"One?"

"No."

"What?" Nine was incredulous.

"You heard me."

"B-but…" Nine stopped as the realization hit him.

One had his mask back on. And he wanted his cape and his hat, too, if the way he was rubbing his chest and almost reaching up to touch his head were any indication. One cared more about what these Stitchpunks thought about him than about telling them the truth about how close he was to Nine and the machines.

"You're lying," Nine said in a low voice. "And you really don't care how much it hurts me, as long as you're safe. So, you know what? Screw you."

The youngest Stitchpunk leaped up on BRAIN's hand and Nine was soon hovering over Two as BRAIN repaired him. Nine was sure if he could cry tears, he would be drowning in them. His chest felt constricted and it took all that was in him not to sob out loud. One and the others were off in a corner, as far away from BRAIN as possible. Six had snuck away again and was down below him.

"Up?" he asked when Nine looked down at him.

"Lower me," Nine sighed and BRAIN obeyed.

"Up?" Six asked excitedly.

"Yeah, just tell him what you want."

"Where are you going?"

"To snuggle with Father. If he's still asleep."

Six hurried to catch up to him, grabbing his hand. "Who is Father?"

Nine frowned. "Come and see."

They walked over to the darkened room in the corner and when they got to the room, Nine saw that the bed was empty, but the door to the bathroom was slightly open and light was peeking through the cracks. He heard water running.

"He's in the shower. Come along, Six."

They pushed the door open far enough to walk in, Nine pushing it almost closed again. Wisps of steam fogged their optics up, and they both rubbed them clear. Six paused when he saw the form of the man standing amongst the steam.

"Is that…?" Six asked then shouted in glee. "Maker!"

The Scientist jerked in surprise, turning to squint at them. Six ran over and held his hands up, Nine hurrying up beside him and copying him. The human got on his knees and was surprised as they came into focus.

"Six?" he asked.

"Hello Maker!" Six said, reaching up to touch the man's face.

"Hello, little one," the Scientist said, smiling warmly. "You know, you two will be wet for hours if you get any water on you."

"I don't care," Nine said with a shrug, looking away from his maker's face.

The Scientist frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked as he picked up his two creations and placed them on his shoulder. They were immediately pelted with water, soaking them thoroughly.

"Wet!" Six laughed.

"Nine?" the human said softly.

"You know how I told you about One's masks and his adornments? He chose them over me. He refuses to tell the others that he's close to me because they think I'm weird."

"Oh, I'm sorry Nine. I'm not surprised though. He's a very stubborn and insecure part of me."

Nine shivered, cold despite the warm water. "It hurts, Father."

"I know." A hand gently caressed Nine. "It'll be alright."

They stayed in the shower for about five more minutes. Then the Scientist turned the water off and grabbed a towel. The Two Stitchpunks were carried into the dark room and set on the bed. They watched their maker dress without a light on. They were picked up again and set on the Scientist's left shoulder. The human paused in the doorway. BRAIN looked extremely irritated, his pupil dilated, and his movements' jerky. The Scientist hurried over.

"Hey, now, easy. What's wrong?" BRAIN held out Two's lifeless body. "That's Two!" the human gasped. "What happened?"

"Fang got him."

"Fang?"

"He's the wolf machine. BRAIN already shut him down. All he needs now is a good purge and to be reprogrammed."

"Another pet?" The man sounded amused.

"If you don't mind," Nine said immediately.

"Not really. Now, let's see if we can fix Two up."

The Scientist took all of Two's parts and brought him over to a workbench in the corner. Flipping the light on, he began repairing his second born creation. It was simple for him to do it, and he could feel BRAIN watching over his shoulder, as well as Nine and Six beside him. Just when he had dressed his creation, neatly tying the shoelace, Two woke up. He stared up at the Scientist in confusion.

"Am I dead or born again?" he asked.

"Neither," Six exclaimed. "Nine and Maker live here at the Factory with the nice machines."

Two looked even more confused. "What?"

Six helped his elder to sit up and repeated his statement. Two focused on the youngest Stitchpunk.

"You must be Nine."

Nine nodded and smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you, Two. And you, Six. One has told me a lot about you."

"So you're the one he's been sneaking out to see," Two said, looking him over. He turned to look at his maker. "So you _are_ alive. We'd lost hope."

"Well, I couldn't very well leave you all alone, now could I?" the Scientist asked with a small smile.

"We've been doing okay without you, but it's nice to know you're safe."

Two suddenly focused behind the human and gasped, skittering back. The old toymaker turned and saw BRAIN staring at them.

"Calm yourself, Two. He won't harm you. Though he probably wants to scan you."

"Scan? Does that hurt?"

"No. It tickles," Nine said with a smile.

"Well…I guess if One trusts you, then I'll trust you, Nine. How does this work?"

"BRAIN?" Nine asked, raising his arms up. "Pick us all up, if you please."

The machine did so. Six laughed eagerly, but Two was shifting uncomfortably.

"Scan them."

BRAIN focused on Two, and he lit up in a green light as his body buzzed. Two let out a loud laugh, suddenly wriggling for an entirely different reason. When the sensations had disappeared, the machine turned to Six and scanned him. Six squealed, laughing jovially. They looked at each other happily.

"That was fun!" Six said breathlessly.

"It was," Two agreed.

"Two, you're alright!" One exclaimed.

They looked down to see the other six Stitchpunks staring up at them.

"I'm fine, One." He looked around. "So this is where you've been sneaking off to."

One's expression became guarded and Nine snorted.

"Shh," he said loudly. "Don't tell anybody that, Two. He doesn't want to admit it."

"Silence," One snapped.

"No."

One narrowed his optics and said the cruelest thing that Nine had ever heard. "You're just as soulless as these machines you spend time with."

Nine froze. "What?"

"You heard me."

"One, that wasn't very nice."

The six Stitchpunks on the ground spun to see the Scientist standing behind them.

"Maker!" they gasped.

"Besides that, it's not true. You each have a soul. A part of my soul. So apologize."

"But—"

"No buts. That was cruel."

"It's okay Father," Nine said with a snort. "We all know who really doesn't have a soul."

One cringed. "Shut up, fool!"

"Stop it, both of you," the Scientist said firmly.

"He started it," Nine growled.

One was frowning. "I say we go home," he said suddenly.

"I believe Six and I will stay here," Two said with a nod. "I'd like to spend time with Maker and the machines."

"I believe you won't," One said firmly. "Now, come along."

Two sighed. "One, please."

"No!"

"Put us down," Two said, looking upset.

Six stood behind Nine as Two walked resignedly over to his leader.

"Six, come along."

"No."

"I beg your pardon?" One asked coldly.

"I'm staying here. I want to spend time with Maker and Nine."

"No. I forbid it."

Six frowned. "I want to!"

One stormed over to Six, but his staff, which he'd moved to hook around the bizarre Stitchpunk's neck, was caught by Nine. Nine shoved him back.

"Six wants to stay here. I see no problem with that."

"Well, I do."

"What, he might actually enjoy himself like you used to?" Nine challenged.

One glared at him then spun around, his cape swishing behind him. Skull hurried over, expecting to take him home, but the cat was stabbed hard in the face with the bottom end of One's staff.

"Go away, beast."

Skull yowled and shot over to Nine, hiding behind him with Six. Nine glared.

"You're going to need him one day, and he won't help you."

That stopped One. He turned his head back, looking a little worried. He faced forward again and the rest of the Stitchpunks left. When they were gone, Nine's shoulders slumped and he whimpered. Six and Skull immediately moved to comfort him.

"What's wrong?" Six asked.

"One."

"I know he's mean. He thinks my drawings are stupid."

"Drawings?"

"Yes!"

Six began frantically unthreading his front. When he had gotten it far enough to reach his hand in, he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper, shoving it into Nine's hands. The younger Stitchpunk unrolled the paper and smiled at what he saw. He handed the paper back to Six and unzipped himself.

"I do believe you're drawing this," Nine said, pulling out the Talisman.

Six screamed in delight, grabbing the object. "My visions are true! They said this thing would save us, and it did, didn't it?"

"It was connected to the machine and when it zapped Father, BRAIN turned nice. He reprogrammed the Cat Beast. When Talon came along, he reprogrammed him, too. Now he has to reprogram Fang."

Six nodded as Nine slipped the Talisman back inside himself. "And they thought I was silly!"

"You're not silly, child of mine," the Scientist said; he'd been watching the exchanges quietly, enjoying his chance to learn about his little ones. "You're just different."

"Thank you, Maker."

The Scientist waved his hand. "Call me Father."

"Father?" Six asked then smiled broadly. "Father. Ooh, I like that."

"So do I," the maker said.

"Nine?" Six queried.

"Yes?"

"Can we jump off BRAIN now?"

"Certainly! BRAIN?"

They were lifted high into the air, and Six whooped in joy. He grabbed Nine's hand and they took a running leap off the machine plummeting down almost to the ground before being caught easily. Six laughed.

"Again!"

They did that several times, laughing breathlessly when it was all over. The Scientist had gone over to his desk and was drawing something on a piece of paper. Nine yawned.

"I'm tired," he said softly.

Six nodded. "Me, too."

"Father?"

"Yes, Nine?"

"We're going to sleep."

"Okay. Have a nice rest."

BRAIN picked up the two Stitchpunks and settled them on top of his casing. They snuggled close together and drifted to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Six and Nine had lots of fun together. They would ride Skull and Talon, play chess and checkers, and even played with Fang. The wolf was larger than both of the smaller machines put together, and was a very rough ride, so they didn't ride him very often.

One and the others hadn't come back in three weeks. At least, he hadn't shown himself to them. One had actually snuck in and covetously watched Six and Nine, along with BRAIN and Maker. He wanted to join them, but he couldn't. The others would judge him.

It was to Nine's great surprise that the other Stitchpunks, minus One, came rushing in.

"Is One here?" Two asked immediately.

Nine and Six leaped from the top of BRAIN, and, after being caught, touched gently down on the ground.

"No," Nine said. "Haven't seen him since he was a jerk."

"Come now, he wasn't that bad," Five said hesitantly.

"He practically denied my existence."

Two and Five cringed. "My apologies," the former said. "But we haven't seen him for two days."

Nine immediately grew worried. "Six, you stay here. Talon, Skull, Fang!" The machines hurried over.

"But he was mean to you," Six said pointedly.

"That doesn't mean I leave him out there to die," Nine replied, climbing up on Talon's back.

The bird-like machine took off, flying out of a broken window, while Skull and Fang rushed out the tunnels. Nine had Talon fly close enough for him to instruct them to find One, then took off higher. He searched the ruins of the city for any sign of movement. When he saw a quick movement among the rubble, he had Talon dive for it. He leaped off the bird's back and looked around. There, hidden behind a large outcropping of stone, was One. He had no hat and no cape, and the bell on his staff was gone. He hurried over to Nine.

"Is it gone?" he asked shakily.

"Is what gone?"

There was a roar and a creature as big as human crawled over some ruins. It had wings folded on its back and moved in a very serpentine manner. It stood on its hind legs and stared at the two Stitchpunks. He hissed and Nine's three pets growled back.

"One," Nine said softly. "It's about time you ride Talon. Now jump on. Hurry!"

They leaped at Talon, clambering up and clicking him into the air. The Winged Monster leaped up at him, spreading its wings and taking off after them. One moaned as they soared through the air.

"I don't like flying!"

"How about I leave you back there with him?" Nine asked, gesturing back at the thing chasing them.

One turned to look at the monster, but ended up screaming. The thing was right there! He cried out for Talon to dive, but there was a jerk and suddenly they were falling. Nine grabbed One and put the older Stitchpunk on top of him, hoping to absorb any blow. Pain was sharp, immediate, and nauseating. And it sent Nine spiraling into unconsciousness.

One had been spared too much pain by falling on Nine. He felt loose inside, but couldn't think of that as he dragged Nine over to Skull, who had just appeared with Fang. Talon landed, looking a little disgruntled. The monster landed, too. Fang lunged at him, biting and scratching as One made Skull pick Nine up. The eldest Stitchpunk crawled up on Skull's back and the cat took off, racing through the wreckage. He bounded up some stairs of a rickety looking house and One found himself in the Awakening Room. They hunkered down under the worktable that held the Transfer Device, staying silent. When Talon landed on the windowsill and came into the room, along with a battered Fang, One sighed in relief, but didn't relax. He turned his attention to Nine.

"Set him down, gently," One instructed Skull.

Skull did so and One slowly unzipped Nine. What he saw made him sick. The youngest Stitchpunk's skeletal structure was mercifully intact, but that was all that was intact. One moaned in despair. What was he to do? Suddenly there was a rain of papers came down from the desk and he found himself staring at the schematics for Nine. He pulled two papers together and studied them. He had no choice. He had to play doctor.

Several hours later, Nine awoke. He felt like everything inside of him was moving wrong, creating a very unpleasant sensation. He moaned as he sat up. One was immediately by his side.

"Nine! Are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"The Winged Monster knocked us off Talon and you had me land on top of you. I had to put your insides, your mechanisms, together again. Are you in too much pain?"

"Not too much," Nine said then stood. There was a loud grinding noise, followed by pain. One steadied him.

"I did it wrong! I didn't understand all of the pictures and how everything fit together."

"Father and BRAIN can fix me when we get back to the Factory."

"We can't leave. That monster's out there waiting for us."

"We have to, One. Everybody's worried about you!"

One snorted and looked away, playing with his staff. "No they're not. They never worry about me. They don't care enough."

"They cared enough to come to the Factory to ask where you were." Nine paused. "Why were you out here anyway?"

"I…was chased here."

"Why were you outside your 'sanctuary' as you call it?"

"I was, er, well…Oh fine, I was going to spy on you again."

"Spy?"

"I've been sneaking over to spy on you." One took a deep breath, keeping his optics down. "I would like to apologize. I haven't been fair to you. I've been quite an ass. I was in the mindset that what my subjects thought of me was more important than the truth. Please forgive me."

Nine smiled, embracing the older Stitchpunk. "Of course I forgive you. Now, get on Talon."

"But the monster?"

"We need him to follow us to the Factory so BRAIN can reprogram him."

Nine clambered up onto Talon's back, pulling One up after him; One grimaced in sympathy as Nine grimaced in pain.

"Fang, Skull, go to the Factory and tell BRAIN what's going on."

They nodded, and they raced out. The two Stitchpunks waited ten minutes then Nine clicked Talon into the air. The bird-machine went as fast as he could, but before they had gotten anywhere near the Factory, there was a roar.

"One, hook your feet into those metal slats beside the wing joint! We're about to out fly this thing!"

One obeyed as Nine did they same and the younger Stitchpunk gave Talon permission to do what he had to so that all three of them stayed safe. Talon let out a bird's cry and began doing aerial acrobatics that had One burying his head in Nine's neck as fear overwhelmed him.

"Shit!" Nine suddenly exclaimed. "Duck down!"

They pressed down just as Talon flew through a window of the Factory, shattering the glass. Nine looked up and grabbed One firmly, leaping off Talon to grab onto one of BRAIN's hands. BRAIN closed the fingers over them.

"What's going on?" the Scientist gasped, looking up. Then came the roar.

The Winged Monster managed to fit through the window and lunged for the Two Stitchpunks. BRAIN grabbed him, throwing the beast to the ground and holding him there. He plunged a sparking rod into the creature and shut it down. It went limp. Nine and One were panting hard, pressed close together in BRAIN's hand. They relaxed and suddenly realized how tired they were. BRAIN slowly lowered the two Stitchpunks to the ground. The Scientist scooped them up and held them close, staring at the machine in shock.

"That thing looks weird," Five said from where he and the other Stitchpunks were on the Scientist's desk.

"Monstrous dragon!" One spat.

"That thing's huge!" Two murmured.

"It's as big as Father!" Six exclaimed.

"You mean Maker," One said sternly.

"No, I mean Father."

Nine smiled and looked up at BRAIN. "So can you reprogram Dragon?"

One stiffened beside him. "You didn't just…"

"Nope. You did," Nine said slyly.

One huffed. "Great."

"What?" Two asked, obviously confused.

"One just named our newest pet," Nine said, beaming.

"Pet?" Six asked excitedly. "Another pet!"

"One?" Eight asked hesitantly. "Do we have to go back to the church?"

One sighed, thinking it over. "I suppose…I suppose we can stay here for a little while."

The others cheered happily.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nine was in constant pain. He hardly moved, sitting on top of BRAIN and watching everybody else. It had been three days since Dragon had been reprogrammed. One had been fixed and Nine, not wanting to bother either BRAIN or the Scientist, or even Two or Five, had lied and told One that he'd been fixed while the eldest Stitchpunk had been sleeping off the exhaustion of being up for two days straight as he ran from Dragon.

Nine didn't like lying. He really didn't. But he knew that whatever was wrong with him would take quite a bit of time to fix. He could live with the pain. Or at least he thought he could. Whenever he walked around the pain had him moving slowly. And the sensation of pressure and wrongness never really left him. He found himself panting hard sometimes for no apparent reason. But still he did not seek help.

Nine was walking around slowly on the ground, looking around. BRAIN was recharging, the Scientist was in bed, and the other Stitchpunks were outside in the Emptiness, looking for useful objects. He didn't expect them back for a while. But he was wrong. He was leaning heavily against Skull, panting hard when a voice spoke behind him.

"Nine?" One asked.

Nine shot bolt upright, swallowing nervously. He didn't dare spin around. Sudden movements caused that loud grinding noise, and that would be a dead giveaway that he'd lied. He turned slowly.

"One! What…what are you doing back here so soon?"

"I'm not really sure. Six stiffened and stared off into space then told me to come back."

"Oh…Okay." There was a twinge and Nine started panting again.

"Are you alright?" One asked, grabbing Nine's arm to steady the suddenly swaying Stitchpunk.

"Yeah. Just tired. I was playing with Skull," Nine lied.

One's optics narrowed suspiciously. "Oh really?"

"Yeah…" Nine said nervously, looking away.

"You're lying. Damn it Nine! You never got fixed!"

"I'm fine," Nine said heatedly, jerking away from One. Big mistake. There was a loud grinding noise and Nine was driven to his hands and knees, crying out in agony.

"No you're not! Now you go lie down. I'm going to take Skull and go find Two and Five."

"But I—"

"No buts!" One said firmly. "Now go lie down."

One leaped on Skull's back and rushed out the tunnel. Nine sighed, then walked haltingly to his father's room and painstakingly climbed up into bed with him. He went over and snuggled to his maker's chest, sighing heavily. The Scientist raised his head slightly and curled a hand around his creation. Then Nine knew no more as his exhausted body dragged him to sleep. He woke to a gentle hand touching his face. He looked up blearily to see Two.

"Come along Nine," the second born whispered, tugging the wounded Stitchpunk out of the Scientist's hand. The movement was too swift and Nine screamed as yet another grinding noise came from him. The Scientist sat bolt upright, scrambling for his glasses.

"What's wrong?" he asked; the noise had woken him so well that he didn't even sound tired.

"Nothing," Nine lied.

Two, who had his arm, shook him slightly. "Don't get into the habit of lying, Nine." Then he looked up at his maker. "One said that he had to hastily rebuild Nine's inner structures when Dragon was chasing them. Not surprisingly, he did it wrong and now Nine's in pain. Nine lied and said that he'd been repaired. He's been in pain for three days."

The Scientist looked upset. "Nine, why didn't you seek help?"

"I just…didn't want to bother you. I know from the feel of it that repairing me would take a while. I can manage."

"You obviously can't," Five said from behind Two. "Not if that scream was of any indication."

Nine gave Five a dirty look. The Scientist scooped up his three Stitchpunks and hurried over to his desk. He turned on the bright light and had Nine lie down. Two and Five quickly removed Nine's burlap and they froze.

"Oh my," Two managed.

"It's…going backwards," Five said, sounding confused.

"One must have accidentally reversed the turning mechanism," the Scientist said. "Nine, this must be constant agony."

"No," Nine admitted. "Just a constant ache. Unless I move. Then it hurts."

"We'll have to reconstruct his entire inner structure," Two said, running a finger along a gear.

The Scientist opened a drawer and pulled out a magnet much like Eight's. "I'm going to place this just above your head. It's like an anesthetic. You won't be able to remember us doing this…surgery."

Nine nodded then let his head rest on the desk. "Father? I'm sorry I lied."

"Two is right, Nine. Don't make a habit of it. But I forgive you."

"Thanks."

The magnet was set in the right spot and Nine's optics were suddenly filled with static. He sighed contentedly and relaxed completely. Two and Five immediately got to work. They were sure hardest part was pulling all the gears out. They grunted and strained to get the main one out, and they both sat down hard when it finally did. They reversed the turning mechanism, sighing in relief when it started moving in the right direction. The Scientist then began to instruct them on how to put the gears back in. Their maker eventually had to help them. Nine's gears were so tight that it was tricky to put them in while the connecting gears were moving. When they were done, there were more sighs of relief. The magnet was removed and Nine slowly stretched.

"Mm, what's going on?" he asked sluggishly.

"You're all repaired."

"How long did it take?"

"About two hours," Five said.

Nine grimaced. "Sorry."

"It's no trouble," Two assured him.

"I feel like it is. I woke Father up, for crying out loud."

"You were in pain. That's a pretty good reason for me to be awake," the Scientist said firmly. "Now don't think any more about it. I would suggest a shower for you, to help you relax. Come along."

Two and Five looked a little surprised.

"You let him take showers with you?" Two queried.

"Yes."

"But isn't that…disrespectful?" Five asked.

"Disrespectful?"

"Well…" Two sounded hesitant. "You have to take your clothes off. Isn't it wrong for him to see you like that?"

The Scientist laughed. "Not at all. I don't mind one little bit. Now, are you coming?"

"Sure," Two answered after glancing at Five.

They all jumped into the Scientist's hands and were carried into the shower. Their maker disrobed, Two and Five trying not to stare and Nine trying not to laugh at his fellow Stitchpunks. Soon warm water was pelting them and Nine played in the water, relaxing. Two and Five were still trying not to stare.

"He won't mind, you know," Nine said from where he sat near the Scientist's feet.

"What?" Two looked at him.

"I stare at him sometimes. He really won't mind. Besides, you're scientists, too, to an extent. You're allowed to be curious about stuff."

"It's rude though," Five argued.

"Hey, he's seen us naked," Nine said with a shrug.

Two and Five began sneaking glances at their maker, and when the Scientist didn't look at them, too busy scrubbing his body, they openly gawked at him. Nine couldn't wait until they were caught. It would be funny. Sure enough, they both yelped and skittered away when their maker chuckled and they looked up to see him staring at them.

"Sorry," Two said immediately, ducking his head.

"No need to be. It's only natural to be curious. I really don't mind. Besides, I've seen you naked."

Two and Five laughed at that. "That's exactly what Nine said," Five said happily.

"Well it's the truth," the Scientist said.

After they got out, the three Stitchpunks were wringing out their material for a while afterwards. They were still pretty wet when the other Stitchpunks came back. One immediately hurried up to Nine.

"You're repaired this time?" he asked. Nine nodded, and One turned to Two. "He's repaired this time?"

"Yes. It took a lot of work, but we finally repaired him."

One grimaced, suddenly looking unsure. "How bad did I do?"

"Not bad for your first time, actually," Two said with a nod. "Though…you did reverse his turning mechanism."

"How bad is that?"

Five placed his hands together."Well, his entire system was going in reverse, and it wasn't built to do that. The grinding noise seemed to be coming from the largest gear and a smaller one. Their teeth didn't mesh right, but still tried to move, and the noise was the result."

One moaned. "Sorry Nine."

"I'm still functioning so I'm not complaining," Nine said with a shrug.

Three and Four suddenly rushed Nine and began picking at his wet burlap.

"Why are you all wet?" Seven asked.

"We took a shower," Nine replied.

"We?" One asked immediately. "Who exactly is we?"

"Me, Two, Five, and Father."

"You mean Maker."

"No. Father. He doesn't want to be called Maker."

"That's disrespectful."

"No, it's not," Nine said. "He specifically told me to call him Father. I know because it's one of the first things I asked him."

"And you showered with him?"

"He doesn't care if we see him naked either," Nine snapped. "Geez, you're all insane!"

"Insane?" Five asked.

"You've put him on a pedestal. He's not some god. He's our Father."

"But—" One began.

Nine was fierce. "No buts. He's a human being. He's made lots and lots of mistakes, just like us. He's not perfect. He's really not. I promise. But he does the best he can with what he's given and that's all any of us can do. Now why don't you stop avoiding him and get to know him. He won't yell at you, he won't hate you. You're allowed to do that sort of thing. Understand?"

There was silence. They couldn't believe that spiel. Nine had been completely right. They had put the man up above them, unreachable and mysterious. They had trouble believing that Nine was telling the truth.

"Name one mistake," One said, his optics really narrow.

"He believed the Chancellor that BRAIN would be used for peace, which brought about the destruction of the whole world. Or nearly the whole world."

More silence. "That's not true," Seven finally said.

Nine snorted and walked straight over to where their maker was writing at his desk.

"Father?"

"Yes Nine?"

"Do you want us to call you Maker?"

The Scientist turned to look at Nine, and was about to ask why he was asking again when he saw the rest of his little creations standing there.

"No, I want all of you to call me Father."

"And do you mind us showering with you?" Six asked, skipping up to stand beside Nine.

"No. Not at all."

"But, Mak…er, Father," Seven said softly. "You didn't destroy the world, right?"

The Scientist grimaced. "Well…ultimately, yes, I did. The nine of you are my attempt to remedy what I did."

Nine could practically feel the pedestal fall. They were all openmouthed, and the Scientist began feeling uncomfortable at their stares. He cleared his throat and turned away, shakily beginning to write again. Nine climbed up his maker's clothes and onto the desk. He pressed his small hand into his maker's larger one and smiled warmly at him. The small creature received a smile in return.

"You made the world the way it is?" Two asked, panting as he reached the top to the desk. The others followed.

"Not on purpose," the Scientist sighed, settling the pen down and pushing the papers aside. "But yes, a good deal of the blame lies in my creating the BRAIN for our Chancellor."

"Chancellor?"

"Yes, he was the leader of our country. I didn't see until too late that he was power hungry and greedy for other lands. He used BRAIN to create monstrous Walkers and other such machines to help him bring other countries under his control. The pressure to create so many war machines made BRAIN snap, and he reprogrammed the machines to spread across this land and the rest of the world, killing all life that they found. We've taken care of that little problem, though, haven't we BRAIN?"

BRAIN made a static noise, reaching out a hand to touch his maker's. The Scientist smiled again, overjoyed that his creation was so content. However, the others, minus Nine, were still staring in disbelief at him.

"Told you he wasn't perfect," Nine said with a firm nod.

"I…guess you were right," Two said haltingly.

"Of course I was. I've spent more time with Father than any of you."

"Is something wrong?" the Scientist asked.

"They've just realized you're not perfect," Nine said.

"They thought I was perfect?" The Scientist looked torn between laughing and crying. He finally sighed. "No, little ones, I'm not perfect."

One finally stepped forward. "Well…you're not perfect," he said slowly. "But I suppose you're still our…Father."

"Yes," the Scientist said with a nod.

"Will you still have us?" Seven asked.

"Of course, dear one. I made you, didn't I?"

They nodded. Nine suddenly leaped at his maker and was caught easily. The youngest Stitchpunk pressed close, arms spread wide. The others followed suit, even One. The Scientist smiled as he was embraced by his creations. He might not have made things right just yet, but it was a start.


End file.
